Schools Should Excuse Absences for AP Exams

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With Advanced Placement (AP) testing season, some students have opted to skip classes on days of their AP exam. In response, admin has been issuing unexcused absences because students are choosing to skip school to prepare for their exams. However, it should be built into the school attendance system to allow absences on days that students have AP exams because it will help them get more rest to increase their performance on exams.

“At Northwood, parents were allowed to excuse absences for students if they had an AP exam,” AP physics teacher John Olivares said. “It was assumed that if a student had an AP exam they were allowed to miss the whole day if they needed to.”

Another issue is that students may not be getting enough sleep during AP testing weeks.

“Anyone who does not get enough rest will tend to react slowly. During exams, this may impede your ability to complete a test on time, resulting in lower scores due to incomplete tests. This will greatly affect students who are pressured to complete tests under time constraints,” according to Gap Medics.

Since all AP tests have very strict time restraints, students should also be allowed to miss school because of the effects of sleep deprivation. Since many students stay up very late every single night during the two weeks when AP exams occur, it hampers their performance on exams.

Although some exams do start in the morning, students should be given the chance to miss their remaining afternoon classes to unwind and rest from the stress of the exams. Therefore, allowing them to miss school will grant them the much needed sleep that they require.

Although some may say that students should not be missing school because they could miss content being taught in their classes that day, the reality is that they would benefit more from resting than if they were in class when they could just make-up the work later.

For high school students looking towards college, the two week period when AP exams occur can be the most stressful time of the school year. Not only are they having to test for hours at a time, but the stress from parents, teachers and colleges can also take a toll on young minds. Therefore, students should be granted an excused absence on the day they are taking an AP exam to ensure they get the rest they require.